Sustainable transport alliance, Transform Scotland, today said that any new trains ‘serving the Scottish network’ should be ‘Scottish-owned’.
As part of its response to the ‘Rail 2014’ consultation, Transform Scotland also said there was a need for detailed consultation with passengers, both on new trains and on timetable changes.
Transform Scotland rail campaigner Paul Tetlaw said:
“One of the failures of rail privatisation was the decision to hand over ownership of the nation’s trains to the private leasing companies rather than retain the trains in public ownership.
“We believe that there is a good case for any new trains to be procured by the Scottish Government to be owned by the state rather than be leased from Rolling Stock Operating Companies (ROSCOs) under the failed model pursued in the 1990s.
“We see no reason why the Scottish Government shouldn’t own the nation’s trains rather than see them be leased from a profit-seeking private entity.”
Makes sense for the state to take the profit (or avoid being profited from) on trains that they will be subsidising anyway.
Following on from the last comment – especially since the ex-BR stock still held by the ROSCOs was paid for originally by the taxpayer. The ROSCO arrangements have got to be one of the biggest ripoffs ever perpetrated upon the people of this country, in the most chaotic and downright disastrous privatisation ever. For example, the ROSCO Porterbrook bought one set of rolling stock for £526 million, and sold it on 7 months later for £300 million profit. £450 million was paid by government to consultants during the privatisation process. For a readable account of the whole sorry saga, see ‘Eleven Minutes Late – A train Journey to the Soul of Britain’.